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Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi has given an explanation for why Fakhar Zaman was sacked from his central contract. Naqvi stated during a press conference on Sunday, October 27, that no member of the national team should tweet his opinions on decisions made by the selection committee.
Before the second Test match against England, Fakhar Zaman tweeted in favour of Babar Azam after the player was benched owing to poor form. Babar's dismissal, according to Fakhar, would give the Test team a bad impression. Virat Kohli was also mentioned by the left-hander in the tweet that contrasted the two players' low points.
Mohsin Naqvi on Fakhar Zaman
According to Mohsin Naqvi, the primary reason for removing the player from the contact was that, aside from the tweet problem, Fakhar's fitness was inadequate.
"Tweet was one issue, but the bigger matter was that of fitness. There is a show-cause notice pending against him, and we will see about that. He would need to prove his fitness, his point of view was valued in the Connection Camp and I am very thankful to him for that but you cannot go around commenting on the selection committee over selection calls. But ya, the bigger issue is of selection," Mohsin Naqvi said in the press conference.
PCB's latest central contract list
Following the end of the England Test series, the PCB made their new contact list public. After publicly denouncing their national cricket board for resting Babar Azam halfway through the England Test series, Fakhar Zaman was taken off their core contracts list. Notably, on Sunday, October 27, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made public the list of players who have contracts for the 2024–25 season. A few veterans' names were missing from the list, even though a number of young players received their first contracts.
Fakhar Zaman, a member of Category B in the central contracts for the previous season, was one of them. Only a few weeks after publicly criticizing the choice to rest Babar Azam on his X handle, he was removed. The PCB officials were not happy with the position, so the board sent him a "show cause" notice. Fakhar has now lost his central contract for the first time in eight years as a result of the incident. The daring batsman last played for his nation at the 2024 T20 World Cup, where Pakistan lost badly to co-hosts India and the United States and was eliminated in the first round.
List of centrally contracted players for Pakistan men’s team
Category A: Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan
Category B: Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood
Category C: Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shadab Khan
Category D: Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Usman Khan
